Even so, the absolute number of women in the military continues to be small, and women continue to be under-represented in armed forces in comparison with their relative number in society. The number of women serving in the armed forces varies considerably from country to country (see Box 13.3).239 Box 13.3 Representation of Women in Selected OSCE Participating States’ Armed Forces239 State Belarus Belgium Canada All Ranks (%) 5 8.3 15 Croatia Czech Republic 9 12 Denmark Estonia Finland France 5 15 4 13 Germany Georgia Ireland Latvia Lithuania 7 8 5 15 12 Luxembourg Norway Poland Portugal Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey United States 1 7 1 1 8 11 14 4 5 0.2 15 0fficers (%) NA 6.3 (1% of whom are senior officers) General Flag Officers: 4 Brigadier General: 7 Colonel/Captain: 4 6 Lieutenant Colonel: 1 Major: 4 2 First female officer appointed in 2006 Senior officers: 4 General officers: 1 4 NA none NA Lieutenant Colonel: 3 Major: 6 0.02 NA NA NA 34 NA NA NA 1 NA 5 Leaving aside countries where women are not allowed to serve, the table shows that rates vary from 0.2 per cent in Turkey to 15 per cent in the United States. Different career opportunities for men and women may also explain why women are distributed over the ranks so unevenly. Box 13.3 shows that women are even more under-represented in the higher ranks. In some OSCE participating States, there are no women at all in the highest ranks (e.g., Latvia, Poland, Spain, Ukraine). The significance of having women in higher ranks goes beyond mere statistics. Women who are generals or high commanding officers symbolize that women can reach the top. This can strengthen the conviction that women can have a successful career in the armed forces, which will probably attract more women to pursue military careers. While there may not be formal barriers to the advancement of women in 239  ODIHR-DCAF questionnaire, questions 75 and 76. 119 Handbook on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Armed Forces Personnel